Some albums just grow on you and so it is with Cassandra Wilson's latest, Another Country. As with many other people Wilson had been to Italy and fallen in love with it so she went all out to evoke the country in the arrangements of the seven original songs she wrote for this album (which is fine), and also recorded O Sole Mio (which is not).
We'll let that pass for a moment. Her partner in crime for this project is Italian guitarist Fabrizio Sotti, who gets second billing as a "featured" artist and also contributes a couple of acoustic instrumentals. The two share the production credit. There are no kit drums, and the other participants are percussionists Mino Cinelu and Lekan Babalola, bassist Nicola Sorato and accordionist Julien Labro.
The first problem is that there are perhaps too many rays of Tuscan sunshine bathing the music, much of which veers dangerously close to Sting with Dominic Miller territory. On the other hand if you are going to record an album in Florence, I suppose this is the effect you are probably after.
After listening to Another Country a few times I found myself feeling slightly churlish for not liking a song just because it was melodically accessible, and also tuning in to the elements of the blues always present below the surface.
The versatile Wilson began her recording career working in an experimental jazz collective led by saxophonist Steve Coleman, and went on to become a Grammy winner for the Blue Note label.
Her eclecticism is part of her appeal. As well as rearranging the blues in a thoughtful and intelligent way, she is comfortable with the Great American Songbook, and equally so with country music. She also has an affinity for well-crafted rock and pop tunes, and performs Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell to advantage.